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PepsiCo recently worked with the Columbia Earth Institute to calculate the carbon footprint of some of its products. The company found that a 64-ounce container of its Tropicana Pure Premium Orange Juice has a life-cycle carbon footprint of 1.7 kilograms.

Tropicana’s orange juice received Carbon Trust certification, becoming the first consumer brand in North America to do so, according to the company.

Growing the oranges was the biggest single source emission, responsible for about 60 percent of the orange juice’s total carbon footprint. Transportation and distribution accounted for another 22 percent; packaging accounted for 15 percent; consumer use and disposal was responsible for the remaining three percent.

PepsiCo’s interest in calculating the carbon footprint of its products began in England, reported The New York Times. In 2007, Walker, a PepsiCo brand, started publishing the carbon footprint of its potato chips both on the packaging and the website.

Earlier this month, PepsiCo published its fourth annual CSR report. Although the company renewed its commitments to recycling and launched a sustainable policy, it still trailed behind Coca-Cola and Anheuser Busch to come in third on As You Sow’s Beverage Container Recycling Scorecard.

Pepsi’s step should not be underestimated. If they use the Carbon Trust’s methodology, which is transparent and internationally-consistent, other companies aren’t going to be that far behind. Last year when we developed a calculator to allow consumers to measure the GWP of different food choices (www.eatlowcarbon.org), we had to ignore beverages because there was virtually no data. I hope their work in the future outlines the differences between 64 oz containers and smaller bottles. We look forward to publishing comparative data for beverages in our v 2.0.

The world is going mad with this fear of CO2. We are wasting so much time and money evaluating carbon footprints that we are neglecting things that really matter. Time will show that this carbon histeria has been one huge hoax. How sad that even many conservatives who generally see the fallacies in such save the earth movements are playing the game because there is money to be made or government dollars to be obtained. I am quite sure that when the earth does not warm and disaster does not strike us, Al Gore and his followers will take the credit for saving the earth.

The role of carbon emissions affecting climate is not 100% certain but there is substantial scientific evidence to support this theory. Measurements show that carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere are increasing substantially and basic physics tells us that carbon dioxide acts as a greenhouse gas reducing the loss of heat from the earth to space. These two facts are not in dispute. Therefore I think it is up to those who deny that climate change is happening to demonstrate why rapidly increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide levels will NOT have an impact. If they can do that there will be a reason then to think that the predictions of climate change are wrong – so far the anti-climate change proponents have failed to present this evidence. Denial unfortunately does not mean something will not happen.